Federal Judge Denies Lawsuit Seeking Recount for Portland Ballot Initiative
A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, has denied a lawsuit seeking to recount signatures for the "Safer Portland" ballot initiative. The initiative, which proposed redirecting funds from the Portland Clean Energy Fund to the Portland Police Bureau, had previously failed…
Portland, OR, September 3, 2026 — A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, has ruled against a lawsuit that sought to initiate a recount of signatures for the “Safer Portland” ballot initiative. The decision means the initiative will not appear on the upcoming November ballot.
The “Safer Portland” initiative aimed to reallocate funds currently designated for the Portland Clean Energy Fund, redirecting them instead to the Portland Police Bureau. However, the initiative previously failed to collect a sufficient number of valid signatures required for it to qualify for placement on the ballot.
Following the determination that the initiative did not meet signature requirements, a lawsuit was filed seeking a recount of the collected signatures. The lawsuit’s objective was to challenge the initial verification process conducted by local election officials.
In denying the lawsuit, the federal judge affirmed the actions of local election officials, stating that they had correctly applied the relevant laws during the signature verification process. This ruling upholds the initial decision that the “Safer Portland” initiative did not meet the threshold for ballot qualification.
The specific details of the number of signatures required, the number collected, and the exact legal statutes cited in the judge’s ruling were not immediately available. The name of the federal judge presiding over the case was also not provided in the available information.
Story summarized from the original created by Courtney Vaughn and Jeremiah Hayden on www.portlandmercury.com, see more information here.
